Saturday, April 10, 2010

A Killer Plot-Ellery Adams

A Killer PlotEllery AdamsBerkley, Jun 2010, $7.99ISBN: 9780425235225

IIn Oyster Bay, North Carolina the prodigal daughter Olivia Limoges returns but she keeps to herself. Her only outlets of affection are her dog Haviland and her goal is to finish her novel. She is forty, beautiful and rich, but nobody can get past her shell she erected around herself. No one until she meets Camden Ford, a gossip columnist interested in writing a fictional account of the Talbot family concentrating on the rich patriarchal tyrant Dean who wants to build a housing complex in the town.

Something about Camden charms her and makes her agree to mingle with his book group. She joins the Bayside Back Writers and attends their meeting at the cottage near the lighthouse. Olivia is heartbroken when she finds Camden's murdered body in an alley. She vows to find his killers who left haiku on the victim's body. Before the townsfolk can get over the homicide Olivia finds another corpse. Dean's heir Blake and his sweetheart come to Oyster Bay to obtain approval for the housing project. While Blake and his father's trusted partner Max are trying to win over city council, Olivia investigates. Someone wants her to stop threatening her dog and eventually her.

This Book by the Bay Tarheel amateur sleuth mystery is an enjoyable tale due to the main protagonist who is independent and forceful; she knows what she wants and goes after it, in this case finding Carmden's killer. The support cast are developed enough to either enhance Olivia's investigation or her as readers will appreciate the heroine's often inquiry into who killed her friend and why.